VANCOUVER — The finish line is in sight but the Vancouver Whitecaps have some hills to climb to claim a spot in Major League Soccer’s playoffs.
The Whitecaps hope to gain some ground in the race for the post-season when they play the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday night at BC Place Stadium.
With 10 games remaining, the Whitecaps (8-10-6) enter the weekend seventh in the Western Conference with 30 points. They trail the Portland Timbers by two points for the sixth and final playoff spot in the West. The Earthquakes (6-6-10), who are 0-5-6 on the road this season, are eighth in the West, just two points behind the Whitecaps, and also hope to move up the ladder. Four points separate Vancouver from fifth place Sporting Kansas City.
"We knew it was going to be tight all along, even from the first game of the season," Vancouver head coach Carl Robinson said after a practice this week. "We are in a position at the moment not where we would like to be, but we have to deal with it.
"It’s probably a fair position on how we performed in the first 24 games. It’s a challenge for us. It’s a great challenge to look forward to. There’s no point of being afraid."
Over the last three years it has taken 50 or 51 points to claim a playoff spot. In that scenario, Vancouver needs 20 points in their final matches. Midfielder Andrew Jacobson agreed that’s a tall order, but not impossible.
"We’re in the thick of it," he said. "We have 10 games left.
"What we are going to do is go out and try and collect as many points as possible."
Back in May the Whitecaps were feeling good about themselves after putting together a three-game win streak. In the 11 games since, Vancouver has managed just two victories and collected nine points in total.
"I don’t panic," said Robinson. "I think we need to be better. I have said that across the board for the first 20-odd games of the season.
"We have to deal with it. My job as a coach is to fill them with confidence. There is no point taking a step back and getting scared. We have to meet this challenge head on. You learn about yourself and you learn about your team."
There are times this season Robinson must have felt like the captain of a ship taking on water.
The Whitecaps are having trouble at both ends of the field. The team hasn’t scored a goal in three MLS matches, all on the road. Vancouver has also allowed two goals in each of five of the last seven games. On the season, the Whitecaps have given up 39 goals, the most of any team in the West.
Mistakes by individuals and inconsistent play has cost Vancouver points.
"You tend to fix one leak and another leak pops up," said Robinson. "It is what it is. Welcome to football.
"We’ve made individual errors at the wrong times. The front part of the team needs to step up and create and score goals. The back part of the team needs to concentrate and cut out the individual errors."
The Earthquakes, who have played two less games than Vancouver, are riding a season-high, four-game unbeaten streak (1-0-3). They are also 0-1-3 in their last four road games.
August also seems to agree with goalkeeper David Bingham. Dating back to last season he is 4-1-2 with six shutouts in August. San Jose coach Dominic Kinnear said his team needs to put together some wins to climb up the table.
"Ties are good, but we’ve got to do better than good right now," he said after San Jose’s 0-0 draw with New York City FC. "We’ve got to get some wins.
"To win games we need to start scoring some goals."
Robinson expects the Earthquake to come into the match hungry.
"They are a good team," he said. "They are in a similar situation as us. They are a very physical team. We know it’s not going to be easy.
"All we do every week is focus on ourselves. If we focus on ourselves and what we do … and cut out the individual errors that have been costing us, we have a good chance of winning the game."
